Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:
'Crayons to Canvas'
"Crayons to Canvas," work (predominantly paintings) by Hot Springs artist Longhua Xu, 66, inspired by his grandson's drawings, Han Xu, 6, opens Saturday at the Mid-America Science Museum, 500 Mid America Blvd., Hot Springs.
The exhibit, up through Sept. 5, fills a 5,000-square-foot room and features 26 individual paintings, a 26-foot mural and two 8-foot columns, each consisting of eight panels. The exhibit space also includes a hands-on children's area, with crayons and paper for children to create their own community mural and a clay sculpture station.
"My grandson has truly inspired my recent works," Longhua Xu explains in a news release. "Previous to this, most of my works were more representational and realistic. I loved the innocent and primal qualities in his works. He was very intrigued by the idea of his grandfather imitating him," after a short lifetime of mimicking his grandfather's paintings.
Longhua Xu, a graduate of East China University of Technology, came to the United States in 1989 as part of a cultural exchange program — teaching at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. — and moved to Hot Springs in 1990. He has several public sculptures around Spa City, including "Mother Nature" in the median of Central Avenue in front of the Arlington Hotel. The Arkansas Arts Council named him Arkansas' Living Treasure in 2019.
All of the artwork in the exhibit will be for sale; some of the proceeds benefit a trust fund for Han Xu. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Museum admission is $10, $8 for children 3-12 and senior citizens 65 and older. Masks are required for everyone 10 and older. Call (501) 767-3461 or visit midamericamuseum.org. Additional information on the artist is available at xu-longhua.com.
Italian water circus
Cirque Italia Water Circus goes on an expedition in search of a pirate's booty, featuring aerialists, pirate fights, mermaids and acrobatic acts, 7:30 p.m. today-Friday and Monday; 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday in the parking lot of the Arkansas State Fairgrounds, 2600 Howard St., Little Rock. Social distancing, mask requirements and other covid-related safety measures will be in place. Tickets are $10-$50, free for each child with a paying adult. Call (941) 704-8572 or visit cirqueitalia.com/Water-Circus-Silver.
UALR exhibits
Two exhibits of works by Michael Warrick, a faculty member at University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the Arkansas Arts Council's 2020 Arkansas Living Treasure, will be on display Tuesday-July 20 in the Windgate Center of Art and Design at UALR, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock:
◼️ "Michael Warrick: Clay, Metal, Stone, Wood," highlighting Warrick's work from over the past decade, in the Brad Cushman Gallery.
◼️ A new site-specific installation in the Maners/Pappas Gallery titled "Michael Warrick: Spirits," seven meditation portraits cast in Hydrocal, a white gypsum cement, with fiberglass reinforcement, inspired by the sculptural installation "Astronomers' Dream" that Warrick created for a solo exhibit at the Arkansas Arts Center in 1996.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Admission is free. View the exhibits virtually at artexhibitionsualr.org. Call (501) 916-3182 or email becushman@ualr.edu.
Multimedia exhibition
"I Think We Should See Other People," artwork by Cameron Buckley, assistant professor of new media and game design at Arkansas State University, and Boston area multimedia artist Daniel Alexander Smith "exploring 14 months of contagious pathogens, individual isolation, and societal collapse," opens with a reception, 5-6:30 p.m. today, in the Bradbury Art Museum, Arkansas State University's Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro.
The exhibition will remain up until July 7. Admission to the reception and exhibition is free. Pandemic restrictions include limiting the museum to 60 visitors; guests also are required to wear face coverings and maintain a distance of six feet from other guests. Museum hours are noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Call (870) 972-3471 or visit bradburyartmuseum.org.
'Blippi' tickets
Tickets — $30-$59 (plus service charges) — go on sale at 10 a.m. today via ticketmaster.com for "Blippi the Musical," bringing the YouTube children's character to the stage, 6 p.m. Aug. 3 at North Little Rock's Simmons Bank Arena. There is a 9-ticket limit per household; anyone older than 2 needs a ticket. Visit blippithemusical.com.